Al-Dustour
Encyclopedia
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
: eldosˈtuːr, edːosˈtuːr), founded in December, 1995, is an Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian independent opposition newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published in Arabic. Its editor in chief is Ibrahim Eissa. Started as a weekly newspaper, every Wednesday, and later issued both daily and weekly.
Al-Dostour and The Egyptian Government
Al Dostour was published with a permission from Cyprus, as to get around the restricting newspaper publication laws in Egypt.After Al-Dostour published a statement attributed to Islamic groups in 1998, the Egyptian Ministry of Information closed down the paper. The published statement was considered, by the Egyptian Ministry of Information, as unacceptable and a potential cause of sectarian strife.
On March 23, 2005, the paper was revived, being published every Wednesday. . And since March 31, 2007 it's been being issued as both daily and weekly newspaper.
Since the day of its first issue, Al-Dostour has been harshly critical of the government, and lately the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
, his family, and the ruling party (The National Democratic Party NDP
National Democratic Party (Egypt)
The National Democratic Party , often simply called Al-Ḥizb al-Waṭaniy – the "National Party", was an Egyptian political party. It was founded by President Anwar El Sadat in 1978....
), as it's one of Egypt’s top critics of President Hosni Mubarak’s 27-year rule and showing sharp opposition to Gamal Mubarak
Gamal Mubarak
Gamal Al Din Mohammed Hosni Sayed Mubarak , , is the younger of the two sons of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and former First Lady Suzanne Mubarak...
's inheritance of power.
Al-Dostour former editor in chief, Ibrahim Eissa, is free on bail pending the appellate court decision in a sentence of a yearlong prison and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian Pound (≈ 3800 USD) on September 13, 2007, and other 3 independent editors; Wael al-Abrashy of Sawt Al-Umma, Al-Fajr's Adel Hammouda, and Al-Karama's former editor Abdel Halim Kandil, in charge of "(insulting) the Egyptian president and publishing (false) information likely to (disturb) public order".
On the other hand in a separate case, Eissa has been sentenced to six months, later reduced to two months, in prison on March 26, 2008, Boulak Abo Al Ela Court of Misdemeanor, for publishing "false information concerning Mubarak's health harming public security and the country's economy" in relation to articles and headlines speculating the health of 80 year-old president Hosni Mubarak. Governmental authorities allege that Eissa's articles caused foreign investment withdrawal that's equal to 350 million USD. Eissa is free, for a second time, on bail of 200 EP (≈ 37 USD) to halt implementation of the verdict until another appeal.
On October 6, 2008, the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
announced that he would pardon Eissa. It was the first time in Egypt that such a pardon has been issued in the history of the press. Al-Dustour praised the pardon and asked the president to honor his promise to cancel custodial sentences in cases of publication.
External links
- Official Al Dostor Web Page (Arabic)
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemning Eissa's jail sentence
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemning the four editors jail sentence
- Amnesty International calling the Egyptian authorities to drop the charges against Eissa
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) Forty members and partners of IFEX urge authorities to overturn four editors' jail sentences during appeal hearing on World Press Freedom Day